KeepKey vs TREZOR – Bitcoin Hardware Wallet Review

In the past year or so I’ve gotten to review two Bitcoin hardware wallets – TREZOR and Ledger. I’ve also matched them head to head and compared the differences, but today a new competitor has entered the arena.

KeepKey is the latest crypto hardware wallet. And I say Crypto hardware wallet and not Bitcoin hardware wallet because apparently KeepKey supports Bitcoin, Testnet, Litecoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, and Dash (although at the moment the Chrome interface only supports Bitcoin).

Unboxing a beautiful design

The first thing you’ll notice when you get your KeepKey is how exciting the whole unboxing process is. You can tell that a lot of thought was put into the packaging and product design. The box comes with a KeepKey seal which shows that no one has opened it before you, indicating that the device is secure.

When comparing this to TREZOR or Ledger’s packaging you automatically feel that you’re in a different league so to speak. The content of the box includes the KeepKey hardware wallet, a USB cable to connect the KeepKey wallet to your computer, a card to write your recovery sentence on it and a nice leather case to keep that card in.

Getting started is simple and easy

Just like other hardware wallets it doesn’t take much to get started with KeepKey, you’ll need to download two chrome applications (one for generating a wallet and one for connecting to KeepKey through Chrome) and you’re good to go.

It may sound stupid but KeepKey’s sleek design and cool digital animation makes the experience of using it feel so much better than other hardware wallets. The device itself also feels much more durable.

Even though you won’t be able to walk around with it comfortably in your pocket like TREZOR or Ledger, you need to remember that this is a hardware wallet which is used to store large amounts of Bitcoin – so why would you want to walk around with it in the first place.

The device uses the same 2nd screen protection that TREZOR uses which makes it more secure to keystroke spying. The user interface of the Chrome wallet is simple and intuitive.

KeepKey features all of the “standard” Bitcoin hardware wallet features such as Firmware updates, no OS compatibility requirements, message signing, device recovery and more. The FAQ page of the wallet pretty much covers all of the features and also at the moment states that KeepKey is compatible with TREZOR v1.3.3.

But every product has its downsides

KeepKey seems like a pretty solid product, however as a non-technical user I won’t be using it just yet. The reason is that KeepKey as a company hasn’t earned enough “reputation points” in my opinion. At the moment I personally use TREZOR as my hardware wallet, and that’s mainly because they have gotten enough positive feedback form the Bitcoin community. Also, I know the people who run the company and trust them.

As someone who is non-technical and can’t dig deep into the nitty gritty it’s important for me to see that the smartest people in the room approve a product.

Of course KeepKey is open source and everyone who wishes to can read the code, but I don’t really know how to read open source code and I doubt that many people have actually gone through it. So at the moment I will be waiting to see how the community reacts to the company before transferring my Bitcoins to KeepKey’s wallet.

Last but not least, KeepKey’s price used to be more than 2x TREZOR’s price and more than 7x Ledger’s price. When it just came out it was priced at $239 however recently the price has now dropped to $99. So now Keepkey is indeed a very good alternative to TREZOR or Ledger.

Conclusion – Great Product at a great price

The guys at KeepKey did a great job with creating a beautifully designed, user-friendly Bitcoin hardware wallet. If you don’t mind the size of the product, this is a cool product to own. Personally, I’m going to wait a while longer until I start transferring my Bitcoins to KeepKey but this has nothing to do with the product itself, it’s more of a reputation thing.

If you already own a KeepKey or any other hardware wallet, I’d love to hear your experience with it or answer any questions you have in the comment section below.

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24 Comments on "KeepKey vs TREZOR – Bitcoin Hardware Wallet Review"

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Donovan

I would stay away from KeepKey. I keep my device offline and only access it on very rare occasions, the last time I accessed it an update was pushed and afterwards the device just stopped working. I tried multiple computers and no response, there’s numerous cases on the internet that show this has happened to more people. The devices are cheaply made. When I asked support how many devices have failed like this they said none yet they have a article on this problem specifically. I asked for them to send me a new cord to see if that resolves… Read more »

I have a KeepKey, but have some minor gripes about it. First, the wallet doesn’t show you the value of your assets in fiat currency. Second, their development seems very slow. They still haven’t incorporated Bitcoin Cash into their wallet software, but they do offer a beta version of their wallet software if you want to add a Bitcoin Cash wallet. Beta version? Seriously? BCH came out over 4 months ago and I’d rather not rely on a beta wallet to keep my coins safe. These reasons are why I moved over to Trezor.

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6 months ago

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Dom

My only issue with keep key is that you can transfer ERC20 tokens to it but you can’t get them off once they’re there. I spoke with support yesterday and their primary focus right now is updating the firmware so you can move all of your ICO tokens to the device and transfer them elsewhere if you want for cash out purposes. Once that happens I’ll be 100% satisfied with this product. Setup is super easy right out of the box. The only other issue is waiting for coinbase to move your coins to keep key. They’re always backed up… Read more »

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8 months ago

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E Dean

The hardware wallet situation has been frustrating mess since May 2017, when this article was last updated. I bought a KeepKey on Amazon the first week of May 2017 for $99USD. It was delivered within 2 days and I had no trouble setting it up, transferring a small amount of bitcoin, eth, and litecoin to it. Satisfied with it, I immediately went to buy one as a gift for my brother and they were suddenly nowhere to be found on Amazon. Went to KeepKey’s website and it also displayed out of stock and that has continued now into early July… Read more »

When you become serious about Bitcoin hard wallets, you realize you really do need a minimum of two in order to be comfortable. One to load bitcoins on and another to practice recovery or to simply have on hand in case one is lost or stolen and you, for whatever reason, cannot find your seed. I actually have both Keepkey and Trezor. Keepkey is frankly less portable and feels slightly less durable. But I have carried Keepkey comfortably in jeans so the portability issue is not overwhelming. Though I will say trezor is the way to go if you plan… Read more »

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11 months ago

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Mikael Arhelger

Seems difficult to decide on hardware? Wanting to buy one soon but surely want to store multiple (Bitcoin and Etherum) and must work with Windows, Linux and Android …

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11 months ago

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Sergio A.

Good article and congratulations with you website. I like it :-).

Keepkey is a great product (I have one from more that 6 months ago and any problems), nothing to envy at Trezor on security. For me Keepkey is better designe (quality materials and better screen).
About the prestige, Keepkey is the same or maybe better that Trezor (same price 100$), just need time to be accepted per BTCs users.

Hi, great article l own a bitbox and just got my Keepkey the ‘keepkey’ looks like a great product but is let down by some confidence destructive faulty instruction after uploading app via chrome l tried to initialize the keepkey; the instructions were if you do not have the recovery code do not install; however it transpires this instruction does not apply on the initial step, when initializing you are supposed to ignore that instruction and go ahead anyway.Eventually this is what l did and now l can use it but l think l will keep the substantial amount of… Read more »

I use a password manager that also allows secure notes such as 1password to store my recovery keys for both Keepkey and Trezor. I can access the secured encrypted notes via dropbox on my imac, windows surface and samsung android.

FYI I can use mycelium wallet on the android to hookup my trezor via OTG cable. So far nothing yet for Keepsafe on android…

Good preview! Only i disagree that a hardware wallet is only to store big amounts, i think the biggest advantage of a hardware wallet is that you can make easy and safe transactions. You can take it with you because the pin will protect your coins in case you lose it or it gets stolen. The card with the seeds you have to hide on a very safe place or in a safe.